COP26 in Glasgow the 1st to 12th November 2021 is the UN’s 26th annual climate change conference of the parties who signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1994.
The headlines say that climate change is the biggest risk we face as human beings. We have all read about increases in global temperature causing devastating storms, floods, and wildfires. The carbon emissions from our way of life are responsible for this rise in temperature, and significant problems with air pollution. It is developing industrial nations that suffer the most from climate change.
Like our eco-partner A Rocha UK we are committed to not only caring for our small piece of creation but the whole earth. For this reason, we are following COP 26 closely, and praying regularly for good outcomes. COP26 has been called the world’s ‘last best chance’ to control runaway climate change.
The big challenge set at COP21 in Paris in 2015 was to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees this century. We are not on track to do this and so a major focus for COP26 is to revisit this and set new emissions reduction targets.
It is also clear that all nations need to work together and that rich nations need to help developing nations. A Rocha point out that it is not just a frightening change in dramatic weather patterns at stake, there is ‘even faster global biodiversity loss,’ even greater ‘disruption to human life,’ and increasing eco-anxiety amongst young people.
This week pray in the words of A Rocha, that there will be a ‘rising to the moment.’
See for further information:
https://ukcop26.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/COP26-Explained.pdfhttps://arocha.org.uk/rising-to-the-moment-meeting-young-peoples-concerns-about-climate-change/